Featured Research

GAINESVILLE, Fla.---University of Florida researchers report a blood test they helped develop can accurately detect the bacteria that causes most ulcers -- at less than one-fourth the cost of endoscopy, the standard diagnostic tool.

Share This

Related Articles

GAINESVILLE, Fla.---University of Florida researchers report a blood test they helped develop can accurately detect the bacteria that causes most ulcers -- at less than one-fourth the cost of endoscopy, the standard diagnostic tool.

Unlike other blood tests, which only tell a doctor the bacteria has infected the patient at some point, this new test confirms the presence of an active infection, data from a pilot study show.

The ongoing National Institutes of Health-funded research is a spin-off of other projects that earlier this year led to Food and Drug Administration approval of a new breath test, currently offered at the Shands GI Diagnostic Laboratory. Both the blood and breath tests screen for the bacterium Helicobacter pylori.

The majority of patients who have so-called "peptic" ulcers of the stomach or the duodenum -- the place where the stomach meets the small intestine -- are infected with H. pylori. The organisms reside in or under the mucus layer lining the stomach and intestines, said gastroenterologist Phillip Toskes, chairman of the department of medicine at UF's College of Medicine.

"The big news has been that this bacterium, H. pylori, causes most ulcers," he said. "We had an idea that this diagnosis could be made in a new way."

For many patients, the prospect of a simple blood test is an attractive alternative to the standard invasive approach doctors use -- a procedure known as an endoscopy to biopsy the stomach and detect H. pylori. Endoscopy is costly and can be uncomfortable, Toskes said.

"Endoscopy is a very good test and patients with complicated ulcer disease still need it, but many patients with ulcer disease do not experience bleeding or do not have obstructions, and they can easily be diagnosed with this simple blood test," he said.

Here's how the new blood test works: Physicians draw a small blood sample after giving the patient a compound to drink called urea, which has a nonradioactive tag. H. pylori converts urea into carbon dioxide. Essentially, doctors can measure changes in labeled carbon dioxide levels in the blood within minutes to see whether bacteria are actively metabolizing the urea.

During the past year, UF researchers studied 60 people who had unexplained abdominal pain. If they were candidates, they were enrolled in the study and underwent an initial biopsy performed by endoscopy to look for the bacteria. The group was then divided into those who had the bacteria and those who didn't. All then received the 13C labeled urea breath test, followed by a 13C labeled urea blood test.

Neither the researchers nor the participants were told which group tested positive for the bacterium. The results, analyzed at an independent laboratory, showed the new blood test was highly accurate -- identifying the bacteria's presence greater than 95 percent of the time -- as good as the breath test or standard biopsy.

The breath test works on similar principles. Patients ingest 13C urea, then blow into a bag. The breath sample is sent to Shands at UF to screen for 13C carbon dioxide levels, which signal the presence of H. pylori.

"Like the blood test, the breath test is simple, relatively inexpensive and saves the patient the discomfort of endoscopy," Toskes said. "You can make the diagnosis and after you treat the patient, if the breath test is normal, it shows you have eradicated the bacterium. Physicians, however, are just not comfortable with breath tests."

In contrast, endoscopy requires patients to fast the night before the procedure. They then are sedated while a fiber-optic scope is inserted down the esophagus into the stomach and small intestine. Recovery takes several hours.

On average, the procedure costs about $1,000, Toskes said, while the breath test is only $200 to $300. The blood test could be even less expensive, representing significant savings, he said. "We have an opportunity if we can make this diagnosis appropriately to really go a long way toward eradicating ulcer disease in most patients," Toskes said. "For the first time we can cure it -- antibiotics kill the bacterium at a rate above 90 percent of the time. Very few new infections are occuring in the U.S. right now because of better sanitation. This disease could largely disappear."

The study's next phase -- a multicenter, national trial -- will begin in January. UF researchers, who are receiving NIH funds for these projects, will lead it. Other participating sites include Sinai Hospital in Detroit, Syracuse University, the University of Michigan, the University of South Carolina-Columbia and the University of Southern California.

Mar. 31, 2015  Increasing state alcohol taxes could prevent thousands of deaths a year from car crashes, say researchers, who found alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes decreased after taxes on beer, wine and ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015  Alcoholism takes a toll on every aspect of a person's life, including skin problems. Now, a new research report helps explain why this happens and what might be done to address it. "The clinical ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015  A new population of 'memory' immune cells has been discovered by scientists, throwing light on what the body does when it sees a microbe for the second time. This insight, and others like it, will ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015  Coronary heart disease and stroke, two of the leading causes of death in the United States, are diseases associated with heightened platelet reactivity. A new study in humans suggests an underlying ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015  A new study had researchers seeking answers to why the therapeutic benefit afforded by SSRIs was so limited in children and teenagers. If researchers can uncover the biological mechanisms preventing ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015  A drug being developed to treat osteoporosis may also be useful for treating osteogenesis imperfecta or brittle bone disease, a rare but potentially debilitating bone disorder that that is present ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015  It is possible to quantify and classify the effects of different diseases on the activity of intestinal bacteria, new research demonstrates for the first time. Human intestinal flora, known as ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015  During prenatal development, the brains of most animals, including humans, develop specifically male or female characteristics. But scientists have known little about the details of how this ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015  A history of depression may put women at risk for developing diabetes during pregnancy, according to research. This study also pointed to how common depression is during pregnancy and the need for ... full story

Featured Videos

Solitair Device Aims to Takes Guesswork out of Sun Safety

Reuters - Innovations Video Online (Mar. 31, 2015)  The Solitair device aims to take the confusion out of how much sunlight we should expose our skin to. Small enough to be worn as a tie or hair clip, it monitors the user&apos;s sun exposure by taking into account their skin pigment, location and schedule. Matthew Stock reports.
Video provided by Reuters

Soda, Salt and Sugar: The Next Generation of Taxes

Washington Post (Mar. 30, 2015)  Denisa Livingston, a health advocate for the Dinι Community Advocacy Alliance, and the Post&apos;s Abby Phillip discuss efforts around the country to make unhealthy food choices hurt your wallet as much as your waistline.
Video provided by Washington Post

S. Leone in New Anti-Ebola Lockdown

AFP (Mar. 28, 2015)  Sierra Leone imposed a three-day nationwide lockdown Friday for the second time in six months in a bid to prevent a resurgence of the deadly Ebola virus. Duration: 01:17
Video provided by AFP

Related Stories

Oct. 22, 2014  A painful inflamed lesion on the oral mucosa, which often seems to be burning at the periphery: every third individual has at one point had such a lesion -- an aphthous ulcer. Often they resolve ... full story

June 6, 2014  An optical blood oxygen sensor attached to an endoscope is able to identify pancreatic cancer in patients via a simple lendoscopic procedure, according to researchers. The study shows that the ... full story

Jan. 8, 2014  Doctors may soon be able to diagnose stomach ulcers without taking tissue samples from the stomach. Researchers now report to have developed a new, safer and noninvasive diagnostic technique for ... full story

Nov. 20, 2013  Infants born prematurely are at a significantly increased risk for pressure ulcers, yet nurses at one hospital have been able to eliminate this threat for patients in the hospital’s neonatal ... full story

May 10, 2010  A laboratory technique using real-time polymerase chain reaction that copies DNA segments may allow clinicians to accurately identify pathogens infecting the cornea more quickly than standard ... full story

ScienceDaily features breaking news and videos about the latest discoveries in health, technology, the environment, and more -- from major news services and leading universities, scientific journals, and research organizations.